Other Side of a Saber's Edge
by Zerrat
Summary: 03: Over the course of the endless wars, Lightning has fought the fal'Cie Barthandelus, the puppet Raines, not to mention swordsmen with god-complexes and the maddest of mages – but she never expected to face this opponent. Light, Fang
1. The Bloodhound

**Author's Notes: **Normally, I put these at the end of the usual pairing/rating/length spiel, but I think it might solve a _lot _of confusion if I put it here.

These are **unrelated, parallel worlds**, twists in time or alternate events that connected to the characters and world of FFXIII. For example, the story below is a look at what might have happened if Lightning became the Cocoon l'Cie that was meant to hunt the Pulse l'Cie instead of Dajh. The next chapter could be about Summoner Serah and her two guardians Lightning and Snow in a FFX AU, or we might see what happened if Maqui tagged along with Snow to get Serah back from the Vestige. It could be anything. It could be about any given character! Some will be grim, some will be just for the lulz.

Suggestions/prompts/themes are more than welcome, however!

It's worth noting that _Howl, the Moon_ originated from this slew of alternate universe ideas. Same with a FFVIII/FFXIII AU oneshot (_The Oath) _which is also in the works.

These are all very quick, just snap-shots of events that might have occurred.

**Chapter Title:** The Bloodhound  
**Characters:** Lightning, Jihl, Fang, Vanille, Serah, Snow.  
**Pairings:** Serah/Snow, some hints of Jihl/Lightning.  
**Rating: **T (language, violence)  
**Word Count:** 2,497  
**Spoiler Warning:** Contains spoilers for FFXIII, and in particular, the Euride Gorge Incident.  
**Summary:** A Pulse l'Cie attack the fal'Cie Kujata creates a relentless hunter, bent on avenging lost lives. For Lightning, things aren't ever going to be the same again.

* * *

It had been a routine mission to Euride Gorge Plant, nothing special. Just another day of what was meant to be boring guard duty at one of Cocoon's fal'Cie treasures, babysitting tourists and taking mouthy bastards down a few pegs when they got too loud about the crowds. It wasn't the most exciting job, but looking back, Lightning wished that it had gone on forever. Just so that she'd have a few more moments of ignorance, a few more seconds of freedom to appreciate her life, before it had been snatched away in an instant.

She should never have followed those two foreigners into the Euride Gorge Plant. A tall, dark-haired woman in blue, a shorter girl with hair as red as fire, both dressed in strange and exotic clothing, both seeming entirely out of place among the influx of Cocoon tourists.

That hadn't been what had alerted Lightning to their presence, however. It was the directly challenging look the dark-haired one had short in her direction, and the shadows of guilt in the redhead's eyes. A strange, troubling mix. Of course she'd followed them.

On the outside, Lightning kept herself calm and her features apathetic, but suddenly she was paying complete attention to those two strangers. There was arrogance and self-assurance in the way the older one moved, contrasting to the more cautious movements of the younger. Just two tourists from some backwater town in Cocoon's far reaches? Lightning's fingers brushed the hilt of her blazefire saber, feeling her stomach grow cold. Or was it something else entirely?

The two had been lingering around the entrance to the power plant, loitering and talking in low voices, and when they vanished from Lightning's field of vision, the soldier knew. They were in the power plant now, getting closer to the fal'Cie Kujata.

Lightning didn't hesitate as she pushed her way through the swinging doors that were usually barred, ignoring the sudden blaring of alarms from within the plant as something up ahead screamed danger to the fal'Cie. Lightning's grip tightened on her weapon, shifting it from sword mode to gun with a sharp jerk. There was more to those two women that what first met the eye, that much was clear.

Acrid smoke hung in the air, burning her eyes and her throat as she jogged deeper into the plant. Lightning could barely see a few feet ahead of her, but she was wary, she was ready –

"-but Fang, we don't even know what our Focus _is_."

The voice was timid, hesitating, and strangely accented. Lightning frowned, edging closer. Focus?

"And I'm dead certain that this here Cocoon fal'Cie will be able to give us a little hand in working it out. Maybe if we destroy the thing, we could use the confusion to make a break for Gran Pulse." Another voice, also with that strange twang.

_Pulse l'Cie. _Lightning's entire body went cold as the two foreigners came into view. She pressed herself up against the wall, her mind racing. _Here. Right now. Got to stop them from destroying Kujata. If they do, this whole plant could blow and it'll be good night Euride Gorge. _

There was no hesitation as she stepped out from her hiding place, training her gun on the dark haired one. The smoke made her eyes water, but she couldn't blink. One instant and it could be over for her. These were Pulse l'Cie, the most dangerous beings to exist. It was Lightning's sworn duty to taken them down if they showed up, no matter how steep the odds.

"Stop right where you are." Lightning's voice was cold, level, as the two Pulse l'Cie looked up from their observation of Kujata.

"Hey, look. It's one of those _soft_ Cocoon soldiers! What're you gonna to do? Let the fal'Cie do all your work in killing us?" The dark haired one scoffed as the redhead shot her co-conspirator a frightened look.

"This entire place is crawling with Guardian Corps men-" A jolt suddenly shot through her chest, a sudden wave of pain and nausea sending Lightning to one knee. The skin on her chest _burned _like nothing she'd ever felt before, it was like the skin had been suddenly sliced away and doused in salt. Her vision was swimming. Fal'Cie, what was happening? She'd dropped her weapon, she realized, and she fumbled for it desperately.

_Confronted with two Pulse l'Cie and you up and decide to get heartburn? Get on your feet, soldier. _Her body seemed to have forgotten how to work.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lightning vaguely heard the younger l'Cie ask, and the footsteps on the plant's metal floor echoed so loudly in her ears. The touch of cool, dry hands on her face made her shiver, and Lightning saw a pair of bright green eyes, that shock of red hair. There was the smell of something ancient and overwhelming from the girl, and Lightning lashed out blindly, shoving the Pulse l'Cie away,

"Vanille, it's too late for her. Looks like the fal'Cie decided to make itself a protector. Vanille, we gotta get out of here. Now." The older l'Cie's voice was harsh, and she dragged the redheaded l'Cie behind her roughly as they fled the plant. Lightning struggled to go after them – some deep urge drove her to go after them, to follow them – but fell to the ground, gasping, as her knees gave out again.

_Made itself a __**protector**__. _Lightning's chest still burned, as if she'd been branded. But that was exactly it, wasn't it? _A Cocoon l'Cie, then. Serah, I'm sorry._

* * *

It seemed like it was only moments before PSICOM showed up to take control of the situation. Just moments. If they'd been there at the start, then maybe Lightning wouldn't have had to confront those Pulse l'Cie herself, she noted bitterly as she was marched to one of the plant's spare offices and seated at the desk inside. Her head still felt fuzzy and vague, the skin on her chest no longer burned, but itched. She tried to ignore it.

Lightning looked up as a woman with glasses and long silver hair strode into the room. She could remember the woman – one Jihl Nabaat, from PSICOM. Not long ago, Jihl had been interested in recruiting Lightning for the division, citing her as 'an unappreciated new talent, wasting away in the ranks of the Guardian Corps'. Now, Lightning wished she'd bought into the unsubtle flattery and had taken the job. This whole mess would never have happened, and she'd probably be at home with Serah…

Jihl adjusted her glasses as she took the chair opposite from Lightning. Despite the Pulse incident not an hour ago, she was poised, calm.

"Sergeant Lightning Farron of the Guardian Corps, correct?" The woman smiled at her, but if anything, Lightning felt colder than ever. As if sensing her numbness, Jihl simply continued. "The first order of business is to discover the Focus the fal'Cie Kujata has given you."

Lightning's stomach tightened. That wasn't what Lightning wanted to do. She just wanted to go home and break the news to Serah already. Lightning clenched her fist. She'd promised Serah that she'd be there, _always. _Now she either faced eternity as a crystal or a living death as nothing but a monster.

This wasn't the way things were meant to have gone.

Jihl's green eyes were still fixed on her, and Lightning forced her emotions back under control until she was calm again.

"Pay attention, Sergeant Farron. You must tell us everything about the events leading up to your selection. After that, we'll be running a battery of tests, which will help us discover what it is that Kujata wishes you to do."

As Lightning began to report the events, slowly and haltingly, she'd never thought her dreams and wishes were so far from her reach as they were now. L'Cie didn't have dreams, or wishes – just a Focus. The thought lay heavily on her heart.

* * *

Serah froze, the phone nearly slipping from her fingers. She held on, her heart pounding.

"_Serah? Are you okay?"_

"Y-yeah, sis. I just… a _Cocoon_ l'Cie?" It had to be some kind of horrible coincidence. But five days after she'd been branded a Pulse l'Cie, her sister was taken as a Cocoon l'Cie…? It bordered on the absurd. She wanted to laugh hysterically, confess everything to her sister, but all she could do was sit on the couch, motionless, as Lightning did her best to console her. Snow sat beside her, rubbing her shoulder and arm as he caught the distressed look in her eyes.

"_I know… it's a lot to take in." _Claire's voice sounded weary. _"I can't leave this place, not until PSICOM's figured out what I gotta do."_

Serah furiously blinked back tears. Had it been her fault that Claire had been selected as a Cocoon l'Cie? Were the fal'Cie truly so cruel as to make her only family her sworn enemy?

"Sis…" Serah's hand twisted in her skirt. She had to tell her sister what was going on. She'd put it off so many times now. No longer.

"Please, listen to me. There's something I have to tell you."

She might be dooming herself to a painful execution, to an end as one of the feared Pulsian terrorists, but if there was even a small chance that Serah could protect her sister from becoming a cie'th, she'd be damned if she wouldn't take it. Claire had tried so hard to protect her – in the end, Serah supposed she was just returning the favour.

"_It's gonna have to wait, Serah. I've gotta go. They want to run a few more tests. Maybe after we check out this old Pulse relic in Bodhum, they'll let me come home for a while." _

With that firm dismissal, the connection between them was severed. Serah let the phone clatter to the ground, burying her face in her hands. Snow held her as she sobbed, whispering that it would all work out. Serah let him stroke her hair, even as she bitterly clutched at the brand that had ruined everything.

There had to be a way to stop this, save her sister. Serah just had to think of _what. _

* * *

The old Pulse Vestige, previously thought to be nothing more than a low-profile Bodhum tourist attraction, had ended up concealing the most dangerous known to Cocoon. Pried open like an old tomb, the Vestige had housed a Pulse fal'Cie. The stench of age and rotting had been enough to make Lightning gag as she approached it. In the back of her mind, something had screamed _fal'Cie, _and its association with the stench had been automatic and undeniable.

It was the smell of Pulse, of its wretched fal'Cie and damned l'Cie. At that close distance, it had been choking.

The response from PSICOM had been as fast as it was brutal, and Lightning had been shunted off to a small cabin on the PSICOM flagship _Palamecia _to twiddle her thumbs and wait for news on her finding. It had been too bad that simply locating the Pulse fal'Cie wasn't enough to complete her Focus, but she supposed that life couldn't be that easy.

Maybe it was just by chance, that she'd overheard a pair of PSICOM officers talking about something called the Purge. Maybe it was just chance that they'd said that everyone in Bodhum for the Fireworks Festival was now compromised, tainted by the Pulse fal'Cie. That everyone in the area would be herded into the Hanging Edge and executed. The PSICOM officers had muttered something about the extremeness of the Sanctum's response, but at that point Lightning was already moving.

She had to be quiet, silent – the Sanctum would not simply allow their best weapon against Pulse l'Cie to simply walk into an advanced military operation. She would ensure that they would have no damn choice.

Lightning managed to make it to the airship hanger before she was finally detected. Jihl Nabaat was leading the troops that dared to stand in her way. The fight was short and brutal – the troops had gone down first, useless under the onslaught of a desperate l'Cie, but Jihl's electric-charged nightstick had ensured that when she got a solid blow, Lightning had gone down. Hard.

She awoke in her room – her _cell _– in the presence of Nabaat again. She wasn't tied or bound. A mistake? No. A woman like Jihl Nabaat didn't make mistakes. Nabaat was always in control.

"I have to find my sister," Lightning ground out, staggering to her feet. The cool press of Jihl's nightstick against her neck was all the warning Lightning needed. She sat down heavily at the table again, burying her face in her hands. Nabaat didn't understand. Serah was Lightning's only remaining family. "Serah's in Bodhum and I can't just let her be Purged!"

A moment of silence, as Jihl Nabaat adjusted her wire-rimmed glasses.

"We will find your sister, Farron. The best thing _you _can do, is lend your abilities to the Sanctum. Such a service _will _be repaid, Sergeant." Jihl's voice was cool and controlled, and the woman smiled. Her gloved hand reached out, touching Lightning's cheek for just a moment. "Consider that a promise."

* * *

Lightning supposed that PSICOM had found her sister, in the end. Serah Farron, now nothing but a chunk of crystal, right at the bottom of the now-crystallized Lake Bresha. She stared at Serah's face, her body – forever locked in a crystal slumber. Lightning circled the crystal likeness of her sister, wondering how. How could this have happened? She felt numb, disbelieving. This wasn't happening to her.

"We have reason to believe that your sister became a Pulse l'Cie not long before the Euride Gorge incident," Jihl was telling her, as Lightning knelt to examine the crystal fragments at the base of the crystal statue. Of _Serah_, she reminded herself firmly. Serah, who was never, ever going to wake up again.

It was as good as being dead.

This entire area reeked of Pulse, of old magic, of danger and hatred. From the looks of the crystal fragments, though, somebody had tried to dig Serah from the bottom of the lake. They'd failed, and left her here.

"The l'Cie I met at Euride Gorge, they must have come from the Vestige I found in Bodhum." Lightning stood, scanning the forest of crystal around her. Had she seen movement, or was it just her imagination? She couldn't focus properly, not with the reek of Pulsian magic all through this place. "They must have opened the Vestige, and they made Serah a l'Cie."

"So it would seem, Sergeant."

"Then I already know my Focus." Lightning's voice was harsh in her own ears, but she was too deadened inside to care. "They took my family. I'll take their lives."

As Serah's crystal was carefully extracted by PSICOM engineers, Lightning began to plan. There was nothing left to hold her back anymore.

* * *

**A/N: **Interesting divergence of events, makes me wonder how the story would have changed, had this actually happened. Either way, these oneshots are isolated, and my look at the above events are pretty much done.


	2. The Gattai

**Title:** Other Side of a Saber's Edge  
**Chapter Title:** The Gattai  
**Fandom(s): **Final Fantasy XIII, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann  
**Characters: **Lightning, Snow, Hope, Sazh, Fang, Vanille, Dahaka.  
**Summary: **The fal'Cie Dahaka has an unfair advantage, Snow decides, so he's going to even the playing field! Gurren Lagann parody, crack.  
**Word Count: **1,515  
**Warnings:** Spoilers for chapter 11 events in FFXIII.

**Additional Notes: **For Freijya, who in the ff_land fic prompt party a month or so back, requested _FF13: Okay, I have to ask. Can I have whiny!Hope or peptalk!Snow fic? The more annoying and hilarious, the better! Particularly if Lightening gets to smack some people around. _

* * *

The smoke had cleared from Sazh's latest Firaga blast, and Lightning cursed as she realized that Dahaka still lived. She forced herself to pick up the pace as she sprinted along beside the fal'Cie, not even thinking anymore as she launched Ruin after Ruin in Dahaka's direction. Almost contemptuous of her efforts, the fal'Cie swooped up through the acrid smoke and away again, ploughing through the tower top that Vanille had been standing on just moments ago.

_Thank Eden for Fang's Vanille-paranoia, _Lightning decided as she ducked under the Fira spell that Sazh cast in Dahaka's direction, still heading for the fal'Cie's blindside. _That fool of a girl would have been out for the count, otherwise. _

A quick glance over her shoulder told her that Fang was already reprimanding her sister for inattention, but Lightning was airborne now as she launched herself towards the fal'Cie. She felt her blade scrape along metal, crystal and stone, and she rolled as she landed behind the god machine. Snow reached out to steady her, almost automatically. His expression actually looked worried for once – maybe the impossible _did _happen.

She couldn't blame him, though, because they'd been fighting the belligerent and territorial fal'Cie for the past gruelling half hour. How much more was it going to take to bring Dahaka down? If they failed their journey here, then-

She heard Snow swear in frustration as one of his massive Blizzaga spells missed its mark again. Lightning's irritation with the man spiked. Perhaps, if Blizzaga wasn't working for the _tenth _time in this battle, he could try one of the smallerspells, instead? Pushing her annoyance aside, she sent a blast of Thunder towards Dahaka, and smirked as the spell found a mark on the god machine's head.

"Sis! This isn't working!" Snow ground out, as he darted in front of Hope to protect him from a stray missile of magic. "This thing is too big and there's too much at stake!"

"I know. We don't exactly have any other options, other than to fight," Lightning told him, sending a flurry of healing magic in his direction. "We knew this was coming."

"No other options…" Snow trailed off, his jaw jutting stubbornly as Hope applied another round of Shells and Protects, his blue eyes fixed on the segmented form of the fal'Cie as Fang launched a devastating Highwind on it. "That can't be _right, _Sis."

"What exactly can we _do, _Snow?" Hope demanded, sounding out of breath from all the running and the magical drain. "Even an Eidolon wouldn't be able to take this Fal'Cie!"

Snow's eyes widened suddenly, and Lightning wondered what the man had just figured out. The man slammed a fist into the palm of his open hand, as he often did when he was excited over some idiotic idea he'd decided on. Ride the Adamantoroise, tame a Behemoth, or maybe attempt to reprogram old Pulsian militia – more often than not, Snow's ideas ended in blood, screaming and catastrophic failure.

In short – Lightning had a bad feeling about this.

"Alright! That's it!" Snow declared loudly, suddenly grinning like a maniac as his fierce blue eyes tracked Dahaka's flight-path. The fal'Cie was circling them menacingly, but seemed to be holding off attacking for now. "It's time to even out the playing field!"

_What's he up to now?_Lightning thought, and her stomach plummeted as the man just turned and grabbed Hope's shoulder in a powerful grip, dragging him closer.

Hope looked more than a little confused by the sudden change in Snow's tactics and demeanour, as he stammered, "W-wait, Snow, what the hell are you –"

"I've decided something!" Snow told them all in a clear and loud voice that seemed to carry over the chaos of the fighting. There was a feverish look to his eyes now, a zealous flame that hadn't been there before. Berserker, Lightning decided on the spot. Not good. "It isn't all that fair, a multi-segmented fal'Cie against single l'Cie and Eidolons! So I figured it out, and this is what we're gonna do, Hope!"

Hope seemed to have noticed the strange look in Snow's eyes too, because he started to struggle against Snow's grasp. "Wait, Snow –"

Snow didn't let the boy finish, and thrust his finger skywards in a pose that seemed both ridiculous and intimidating all at once. Lightning raised an eyebrow, entirely unimpressed by the show the man was putting on. Exactly what was Snow playing at?

"We're gonna combine our Eidolons, into the sickest and most awesome fighting machine to ever grace Gran Pulse, you hear me?"

"We're going to combine?" Hope asked vaguely, openly staring at Snow now, as if the man had just grown another three heads.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Lightning's voice was completely deadpan as she shot Snow a quelling look, one that the man seemed to be doing a fine job of ignoring. Tch. So he was that determined to go through with this, then?

From across the battlefield, though, Lightning heard Sahz demand, "You're going to _what?_"

"They're gonna combine?" Vanille squeaked out as she stared in their direction, her Death spell completely forgotten as she gaped at Snow and Hope. Eden, Lightning could see her blush all the way from here.

"Whoo boy," Sazh muttered as he sprinted to Lightning's side, perhaps thinking that he could help her avert the inevitable tragedy that was going to occur. Fang and Vanille were hot on his heels, and the three skidded to a halt beside her.

Lightning crossed her arms against her chest, shaking her head curtly when Sazh and Fang looked to her questioningly. No, she wouldn't break this moronic behaviour up, because whatever it was that Snow planned, it was sure to be a… learning experience for all of them. The inevitable blood and screaming aside.

But Snow was continuing with his fiery rant, thrusting his finger towards where Dahaka floated above the tower. Perhaps it, also, couldn't believe what idiocy was transpiring, Lightning noted sourly.

"So listen up! Up on Cocoon, the reputation of Team NORA stretches far and wide –"

_But __**not**__ for the reasons you'd like it to be for, Snow… _

"-and when they talk about the awesome guy that runs that whole operation, well, no points for guess that it's _me _who they're on about! Snow Villiers, leader of Team NORA and the burning soul of this here group of l'Cie! He's a man who has forged his heart in the fires of adversity and come out laughing in the face of danger, in the face of the fal'Cie, and even in the face of Fate itself! Together with his team of miracle-makers-"

_Miracle makers? _Lightning quirked an eyebrow as Sazh snorted in amusement. _Well, I guess he can have points for practicality._

"-we aren't gonna look back, we aren't gonna falter and we sure as hell aren't gonna regret! There isn't anything that's gonna stand in our way as we defy our Focus and save Cocoon – not even some multi-faceted goon such as the likes of you!"

Snow clapped Hope hard on the shoulder, his grin somehow becoming even more ferocious as he looked down at the boy. "So, Dahaka! Just who the hell do you think we are? Now, Hope, this is it! Let's do it!"

"Uh, all right…" Hope mumbled, still looking thunderstruck as he nodded.

It wasn't going to work, of course. This plan was going to end in tears, but like she thought before. It would be a learning experience. Maybe Hope would learn to stop going along with Snow's ore boneheaded plans, and perhaps Snow would stop having them altogether. Dahaka or no, some things just had to be learned the hard way.

As the two produced their eidoliths, Snow looked over to where Lightning, Sazh, Fang and Vanille were watching, and winked.

Unamused and unconvinced by his bravado, Lightning told the other l'Cie in a low voice, "Just be ready to jump in when they crash and burn."

The two idiots broke their crystals open – and then, as one, they smashed the remains of their eidoliths together before either the Shiva Sisters or Alexander could begin to manifest. There was a deafening silence, as a gust of wind howled across the top of Taejin's Tower. Hope was wincing, probably from the fragments of crystal now lodged in his hand. Snow looked confused.

Huh. She'd expected more flashing lights and long-winded transformation sequences, since apparently she'd woken up this morning in a shonen anime.

Stepping forwards, and smacking both Snow and Hope upside the heads, Lightning sighed and levelled her blazefire saber at the fal'Cie Dahaka.

"So, back to the original battle plan, then?" she asked the group of l'Cie, and was satisfied when Snow and Hope, still wincing from the smack to their heads and the blow to their pride, nodded quickly. Well, at least they wouldn't be trying that ridiculous stunt again. Though she had to admit that Snow's speech _had _been somewhat inspiring…

Dahaka began to circle them hungrily again, and with that the battle had resumed.

* * *

So Dahaka didn't even move following Snow's 'brilliant idea', which is more me playing to the shonen trope than me actually forgetting. Just sayin' that it's on purpose. :3

There was a longer ending of this story, where Snow and Hope actually succeed at their Gattai, but I decided that it was a little weak and that sometimes, less is more.


	3. The ChaosDamned

**Chapter Title:** Chaos-Damned  
**Fandom(s):** Dissidia Duodecim: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XIII  
**Word Count:** 3,486  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings:** Violence, blood, injury, and memory tampering. Spoilers for some plot points of Duodecim (concerning Kain, Tifa, and Jecht). **Spoilers** for FFXIII's characters, antagonists and ending.  
**Summary:** Over the course of the endless wars, Lightning has fought the fal'Cie Barthandelus, the puppet Raines, not to mention swordsmen with god-complexes and the maddest of mages – but she never expected to face this opponent.  
**Additional Notes:**Written for the Fight Scene Fic competition, over at **ff_land** This is done to the usual cheesy standard of Dissidia, and answers the question - who do _I_think would be Lightning's opponent in Dissidia?

I guess this could be interpreted with a Fang/Vanille or Light/Fang slant, but I wrote this with neither pairing in mind.

* * *

Jecht slapped his thigh as he finished the latest in his line of poor jokes, throwing his head back and belting out a full-throated laugh. Seated on the other side of the fire, with her arms crossed tightly against her chest, Lightning glowered at Jecht.

Bartz, the last member of their group, was too busy guffawing at the humiliating story – once again told at her expense – to notice her growing anger. The slack-jawed idiot was almost as bad as Snow, but at least she didn't have to endure non-stop hero quotes ad nauseam. That was, perhaps, Bartz's only saving grace.

Enough was enough. Lightning stood abruptly, drawing her weapon and scowling at Jecht, who was still lounging on the ground.

"You two are unbelievable," she told her two comrades. She had _tried _to put up with it all. She could swear to Eden, Etro, Cosmos, or whatever deity that asked, that she had really tried. But even l'Cie had limitations, and Lightning had had it up to _here _with Jecht's constant needling and Bartz's obscenely upbeat idiocy.

Her hand strayed to her newly-forged l'Cie mark, a constant reminder that she was still bound by the rules of a Focus. It was an exchange. To regain her lost strength and the powers she'd wielded in life, she'd submitted to being Cosmos' l'Cie. Rather than destroy Cocoon as Ragnarok, she'd been tasked with wiping out Chaos' pawns. It was certainly a task she'd found easy enough to stomach.

But she was going to go cie'th from frustration if she remained around here much longer, Lightning decided with the hint of a snarl on her lips, and she turned away from them.

"I'm going for a scout of the perimeter," she told them, keeping her voice impassive and controlled. "And Jecht? Try to get over yourself before I come back, or I might have to cut your ego down to size."

"That a threat, little lady?" Jecht sounded casual, but there was no mistaking the tension in the air. The blitzer was never happy when he was challenged, even when it was by somebody as skilled and dangerous as Lightning.

Lightning just shrugged, not even bothering to look at him. "No, that's a warning."

As she quickly made her way from the campsite, Lightning had to admit that these strange Cosmos Warriors weren't a complete loss. Jecht was a valuable and brutal fighter, and Bartz kept their morale high. The problem was, since they reminded her so vividly of her old friends, she couldn't help but dwell on home. As hazy as her memories were, she'd never be able to forget the other l'Cie. Serah, Snow, Hope, Sazh – she just hoped that they were still okay.

The last thing she could remember, before waking up in this war, was leaving to search for a way to free Fang and Vanille from crystal stasis…

She shook her head as she cleared the forest her group had made camp in, bypassing the old, broken ruins of a town and travelling east. Lightning had crested a cliff and was still moving quickly towards the edge of the Cosmos-controlled territory, when the hair on the back of her neck prickled in a warning.

Warily, Lightning paused as she shot a glance over her shoulder. The feeling was unmistakable; someone unfriendly was following her movements. Lightning made a sound of irritation as she continued down the other side of the steep cliff. Perhaps Barthandelus or Raines – whichever poor fool Chaos had roped into the war – was finally going to confront her. Tch. About time.

Now weeks into the conflict, Lightning had seen no sign of her Chaos-sworn counterpart. It wasn't that she really cared – she had more than enough to concern herself with these days, what with Kain's odd mood-swings, Tifa's touch-and-go memories, and Jecht's issues with his wayward son. But the sooner Barthandelus showed his ugly, mechanical face, the sooner she could send him to meet his precious Maker again.

But as she moved among another set of old ruins, that watching sensation increased, and Lightning finally felt a spike of killing intent.

_So they're going to make their move, _Lightning thought, slowing to a halt. She was surrounded by rubble and the destroyed remains of stone buildings, and she rested her hand on her hip. The fingers of her other hand strayed to the hilt of her dualweapon – she was wary, but after so long in this war, Chaos' pawns no longer worried her.

Except for perhaps Sephiroth, but she would never admit that aloud.

The air current changed, just slightly, and there was a muffled _click _as something slid into place – Lightning hurled herself to the side, just in time to dodge the storm of automated arrows and gunfire that rained down on the place she'd been not a second before. She didn't have time to catch her breath as she hurled herself upwards in a flip, the ground beneath her disintegrating in a fiery explosion. She landed in a crouch ten feet away, scowling, and her eyes darted around, looking for some trace of her attacker.

Was it the Emperor? No, his traps were far more refined, far more dangerous than this. Ultimecia? She'd hardly make a move without her precious Emperor on side. Exdeath was over at the volcano, Kefka was hurling his weight about his tower with Terra as his mindslave, and she knew that Sephiroth was in the Rift toying with the Warrior of Light, even considering that the psychotic swordsman usually attacked directly –

Lightning's breath caught in her throat as she saw something blue streak high into the air. It was only through pure instinct that she rolled to the side, just in time to miss the explosive impact of Fang's Highwind.

Lightning froze, her fire-charged counter forgotten as the magic on her blade sputtered out.

Wait. _What?_

Fang – _Fang? – _straightened as the dust cleared. With one, sharp movement she jerked her bladed lance from the ground, twirled it behind her back, and then she smirked at Lightning. The expression wasn't right_, _though. There was something decidedly not Fang about the blatant loathing in her eyes.

"You dodged it. I'm almostimpressed," the Pulsian woman told Lightning, her tone seeming almost normalfor the half-second before her expression darkened, and her stance shifted back to being battle-ready.

"Fang?"

Lightning's eyes narrowed, and she wondered if this was another of Ultimecia's illusions. There was no denying it - this person certainly looked to be Oerba Yun Fang, right down to the leather warrior's band on her bicep, the sprawling tattoo, to the arrogant and daring way the woman held herself. And the fact that she'd used _Highwind…_

She shook her head, not willing to believe.

"Done your research, I see," the other woman scoffed. Suddenly, Fang was moving and she'd lashed out with that bladed lance, so fast that Lightning didn't have time to blink before she'd blocked the blow. Her shoulder jarred from the impact, but she still held steady. Eden, it would have taken off her head had she not moved so quickly to intercept it.

Straining against the force that Fang was still exerting behind the strike, Lightning ground out, "What the hell are you _doing_ here?"

"Hunting vipers, as it were," Fang spat, and Lightning's blade flashed down again, to block Fang's follow-up strike, before using a quick-fire thunder spell to knock the other woman back. It gave her an instant's worth of breathing space to put some distance between them, but that was all she needed.

As she circled Fang warily, not lowering her blazefire saber, Lightning's mind worked furiously. None of it made sense. Vipers? Fang hadn't used that slur against her in a very long time. They were allies, for Eden's sake! No matter their differences, nothing had ever brought that friendship into question. Until now, Lightning amended quickly. Her teeth clenched, because there was no mistaking the look of hatred in Fang's eyes.

"This is ridiculous. You're saying you're a part of this war now?" Lightning demanded, studying the way Fang's feet moved, the subtle shift of balance that would indicate when Fang would attack. Lightning had to keep her talking, to try to figure out what the hell was going on with her friend.

"_Now_? It's always been war, for me," Fang said, the silver light of a Ruin spell gathering at her fingertips. "Just another Cocoon viper to kill, and there ain't two ways about it."

"You have got to be kidding me."

Lightning pivoted to dodge the quick Ruin that Fang had sent her way, and brought her blade up just in time to intercept another blow, ducking the follow-up attack but slamming a flame-wreathed palm-strike into Fang's side. It knocked the other woman back again, but Fang's words were troubling. Just another Cocoon viper?

Cold realization hit her, and it made her temper flare. For Fang, the last thing that she remembered was how the War of Transgression ended. She didn't remember their time as l'Cie together, and she didn't remember defeating their Focus and earning their freedom. Lightning's grip tightened on the hilt of her weapon. Chaos had gone and stolen Fang's memories, just so she'd have no issues with fighting her old friend and ally.

_Bastard, _she swore at the God of Discord as she solidly blocked another of Fang's strikes, locking her stance and scowling. Fang's green eyes were merciless and hateful as she pressed down against Lightning's weapon, trying to use her superior strength and height to her advantage. A small part of Lightning noted that _this _was how it felt, to be on the other side. Once upon a time, had Serah not wandered into that Vestige, they would have fought like this as mortal enemies.

"Fang, listen to me!" she ground out. She darted under Fang's next, wide-sweeping strike, flipping to slam her heel into the other woman's jaw. Taking advantage of the sudden dazedness in Fang's eyes, Lightning flitted away a few paces, before shifting her weapon and sending a spray of bullets her way. Fang dodged the surge contemptuously, and she flashed forwards to swing at Lightning's head.

"You're nobody's fool! Don't you get that you're being manipulated?"

As Lightning snapped her blade up to parry Fang's spear once, twice, three times, she knew that she wasn't getting through to her friend. Tch. There was no other choice but to stop holding back, and fight with everything she had. Fang was far too dangerous to take lightly.

The fight wore on, and it was clear that they'd reached a stalemate. Fang was easily tanking the majority of Lightning's strikes – the Pulsian could hit like a truck and her liberal use of status magic was making Lightning's head swim. Tch. Saboteurs. She really hadn't been prepared to deal with this slew of debuffing magic, and it was beginning to take its toll.

While Lightning was able to keep the other woman at bay through rapid-fire magic, her weapon's added range and her esuna magic, shallow scrapes were beginning to cover her arms, her face, her body. Swallowing and tasting blood, from where her lip had been split by another of Fang's punches, Lightning knew she had to end this soon. Fang would wear her down and outlast her. It was as simple as that.

Already, she was feeling her reactions slowing from exhaustion, from blood-loss, from the seeping poisons she struggled to halt and the numbing bruises that hindered her ability to fight back. Fang was a dirty and desperate fighter, and what she lacked in military finesse and discipline, she more than made up for in sheer power and determination.

What exactly was she fighting _for?_

Lightning sent a flurry of thunder spells to distract Fang, while she cast another slew of cures on herself. There was only one thing for it, she decided. She had to disrupt Fang's focus, knock her off her game. Because if Lightning screwed up, even by just a little, she knew that Fang would not hesitate in cutting her down.

"So what'd Chaos promise you?" Lightning's breath was coming hard, and she tried to swallow her panting. "Eternal life? God-like powers? A chance to get even with me, for whatever bullshit I've supposedly done?"

Lightning spat off to the side, her eyes searching for even a glimmer of hesitation in Fang's expression, or in the way she moved. Anything to tell her that her friend was still in there, somewhere.

"I've heard them all, Fang. He's worse than a fal'Cie, all sugar-coated promises, while he hides the whips and chains behind his back. He will make you fight _forever, _Fang_._"

That had been what the Warrior of Light had told her, and more and more, Lightning found herself believing it.

"I'm more than ready to shoulder the price." Fang's eyes were almost defensive. Protective. The realization hit Lightning with the force of a King Behemoth's blade.

She understood, now. There was only one thing that Chaos could have promised Fang, only one condition that the huntress would have accepted – and that was Vanille's freedom from the Ragnarok Focus, perhaps even freedom from crystal stasis.

Lightning's mouth was moving, before she'd even stopped to consider what she was saying. "If Vanille could see how far you've fallen, Fang, she'd stop you herself."

"How the hell would you know what Vanille would want? She wants out of that Focus, and if killing you is gonna do it, then that's all I need to know. You don't know her – you're just another target!" Fang lashed forwards, locking blades with Lightning again and forcing the soldier back a step. Her anger was palpable, emanating from her in waves.

"That's exactly _it, _Fang!" Lightning gasped out, praying that her blade would not waver under the brute force behind Fang's push. "I am _not _your enemy – worse, I was your friend! You, me, Vanille, Snow, Hope, Sazh – we shared a Focus and we defeated it!"

"Liar," Fang snarled, and the pressure behind her blade seemed to double. "You can't defeat a Focus."

"But we did. There is still a bond that lies between us all, that no fal'Cie – or even Chaos – will ever be able to break. We went through hell to get our happy ending. Don't you remember that?"

"Shut the hell up. You say I should just _believe _in this miracle you keep pushing? _You? _A Cocoon soldier? I've spent my life tearing people like you apart. It's kill or be killed, black and white, do or die – that's all it ever boils down to!"

Lightning somersaulted backwards, landing smoothly and pushing her sweaty hair back from her eyes. Back before, Vanille had once mentioned the misery and hopelessness that they'd felt during the time of the War of Transgression, and how badly it had scarred Fang.

Despair, violence and desperation – they were the things that drove this incarnation Fang. This wasn't the same Fang who'd sacrificed herself to save both Cocoon and Gran Pulse. Lightning straightened, noting the wariness and defensiveness in the other woman's eyes. But this Fang had the potential to be, if given a reason to hold onto hope –

Stars exploded in Lightning's eyes, and Fang's rapidly cast daze spell sent her to her knees. She gasped raggedly as she tried to clear her vision and mind, but she could already hear Fang moving. She lashed out blindly with her dualweapon, praying to Cosmos that she'd stop Fang's strike or fend her off or _something_ –

Fang's knuckles connected with her jaw with a sickening crack, and suddenly Lightning was airborne. She crashed onto the ground again, nearly ten feet from where she'd been kneeling, and as she began to struggle up again, she saw a flash of blue. Fang was upon her again, and all Lightning could see was the sight of the other woman's red lance arcing around.

Lightning's weapon clattered to the rubble-strewn ground, as Fang's lance gutted her in one smooth strike. Lightning would have almost called it a beautiful move, as blood welled up over her desperately moving hands. She shook her head. They were stupid thoughts. She had to get it together, she realized, and she tried to summon the energy for a curaga. Anything to keep herself from falling into the creeping darkness.

Before she got the chance to release the spell, she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out – Fang leaned heavily on the blade now buried in her shoulder, her sandaled foot on Lightning's abused ribcage.

"It's all just another Cocoon lie, to dull the senses and herd me like some scared chocobo." Fang's voice was unsteady and vicious. A cornered behemoth. "But I won't fall for it, not this time. Because you can't be right, because it would make everything that I've done, everything that I've sacrificed just a laugh. I won't stand for it."

Fang sharply jerked her bladed lance free of Lightning's shoulder, drawing it back for that final strike. Lightning just watched her, teeth clenched, too dazed from the spell, the blow to her head and pain and loss of blood to put up a struggle. There it was – after all this time, a shadow of hesitation. She could have sworn at Etro. Of course it would have to come, at the very end.

"You were a worthy opponent, I hope you understand," Fang told her, and Lightning knew that she was being honest. Fang always was. "Didn't know they made them that tough, up in that nest."

Lightning had to take her chance now, or she'd have to wait for the next cycle to roll around. She couldn't have that.

"…I think you can feel it," Lightning gasped out, her words tumbling over one another as she fought to hold onto consciousness. Eden, but her stomach… "The bond of friendship. You can't understand it, and you might not want to feel it… but it's there and it's never going to go away."

That bond. It was the reason Lightning had left to find Etro, to free Fang and Vanille from crystal stasis. It was the reason she couldn't stop trying, not until she saw her family complete again.

There was only one thing left that she could do, now, to make Fang stop and think for a moment. Her fingers were slick with her own blood, but she made quick work of her brown sweater's zipper, drawing it down just far enough to expose the Pulsian brand that she bore. Fang recoiled.

"What the hell is going _on?_" the Pulsian woman demanded, and the lance clenched in her hand began to shake as it fell back to her side. Fang's eyes were wide and desperate, and she didn't seem to know how to deal with this new information. Lightning let her eyes drift shut, unable to summon the energy to remain conscious.

Fang knew exactly what the brand meant. She'd been tricked. She'd been lied to. She'd been leashed, to play at the whims of gods, as nothing but a pawn. Again.

The last thing that Lightning remembered was Fang roaring, and slamming her spear into the soft ground beside Lightning's head.

* * *

Lightning awoke to the sight of a canvas roof above her head, and she sat up with a groan. Her shoulder and stomach had been heavily bandaged, and the entire tent reeked of healing items and ethers. Even so, there was a deep ache in her shoulder and stomach, a painful reminder of the bout she'd lost to a woman she'd once called 'friend'.

She pushed the hair out of her eyes, considering. The fact that she was even alive, meant that she'd managed to get through to Fang. The fact that Fang was gone, meant that there was still a lot of work to do. Lightning dressed herself awkwardly, before stepping out into the fading daylight.

The Warrior of Light sat by a small fire, seeming contemplative as he watched Lightning approach. So. He'd been the one to find her and tend to her wounds, she realized as she seated herself across the fire from him. She supposed she owed him a small explanation, then. Without being bid, Lightning haltingly recounted her fight with Fang, how she'd lost and what she'd achieved – if anything.

He leaned back as she completed her story, and those pale blue eyes seemed far too knowing for Lightning's comfort.

"So. You believe your fight with Chaos' new pawn is at an end, then?" the Warrior of Light asked, quietly. He already knew Lightning's answer, though.

"No." Lightning looked up, out towards the setting sun. "She might have realized she's been tricked, and she might get that things aren't what they seem… but I think she still believes that Chaos will free Vanille. And that's the most dangerous part. So it's not over. Not by a long shot."


End file.
